Tag Archives: that you may believe

JOHN’S GOSPEL… CONCLUSION-36

Bible Study, ,

John 20:30-31 NIV
[30] “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. [31] But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John concluded his story but not Jesus’ story. As Jesus’ companion and eyewitness, he had much more to tell but…where would he stop? Jesus had said and done so much in his presence that he concluded, with a sense of wonder…

John 21:25 NIV
[25] “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

Was this just exaggeration or was John so overwhelmed with material for his book that he was forced to leave it there, a kind of open-ended conclusion and admission that he could have written reams more and never gotten to the end of this marvellous God-Man’s story.

So, John ends his record of the Son of God with a declaration of his purpose. The other gospel writers leave the reader to decide the reason for each presentation for themselves, but not John. He made sure that every reader would reach the conclusion he intended, and be faced with a decision.

Every person on earth, at some point in life, must face the question, “Who will you serve?” and bear the consequences of that decision. Since there are witnesses to God’s existence everywhere that no one can deny, the witness of creation…

Psalms 19:1-4 NIV
[1] “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. [2] Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. [3] They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. [4] Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.”

Romans 1:20 NIV
[20] “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

…and the witness of conscience,

Romans 2:14-15 NIV
[14] “(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. [15] They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them).”

Every person must decide about Jesus to settle their destiny.

To his credit, John intensified this witness by preserving and presenting the story of Jesus in written form. In this way, every reader is faced with a decision and a choice, to believe or not to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and to receive Him or reject Him as Lord.

John 1:12 NIV
[12] “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God… “

Throughout his gospel, John presents records of Jesus’ miracles as signs, evidence pointing to His identity. In every clash with His opponents, Jesus reinforced His claim to be the Son of God. Time and again, Jesus’ words matched the revelation of Messiah in the writings of the Tanach. John presented Him as the embodiment of truth, God’s Word, prophesied in the Old Testament, clothed in a human body. Like the lamp of David’s psalm,

Psalms 119:105 NIV
[105] “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

…He came to bring light to the people who walked in darkness.

John 8:12 NIV
[12] “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

… shining the light on His true identity and offering His people the opportunity to receive and live by His light.

John masterfully wove together the two strands of witness, Jesus words and His works, that provide the undeniable evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. In Jesus’ own words, the reader’s choice will decide his/her eternal destiny by believing and receiving or rejecting His witness.

John 3:18 NIV
[18] “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

So, John urged, read to believe so that, by believing, you will have life through Him.

1 John 5:11-12 NIV
[11] “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

John 3:36 NIV
[36] “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

You be the judge. Your life is in your hands!

Christian Life, ,

WHY ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31

The answer to this question will affect the way you live out your Christian life. There are two possible answers.

You could answer it this way: “I am a Christian because my sins have been forgiven and I am going to heaven when I die.” Salvation (the forgiveness of your sins and asking Jesus to be your Saviour) is your passport to heaven. You have lost your guilt; you are assured of God’s help and you have escaped hell. Now you can live in the knowledge that your eternal destiny is secure and help in trouble is only a prayer away.

Is this the way the Bible explains why Jesus came to earth?

Heaven and earth are at war. Satan challenged God for the position of highest authority over His creation. He has already won humanity through deceit and stamped on us his rebellious nature. Jesus took up the challenge by coming to earth as a human being to live our life of perfect obedience to the Father. He was the only one capable of rescuing us from the devil’s clutches and giving us another chance to come back under God’s authority. If Satan could get Him to break His oneness with the Father, the contest would have been over and Satan would have won. God would have been dethroned and we would be under an eternal regime of cruelty and slavery.

But Jesus won, exposed Satan as a liar and a usurper, and stripped him of his authority. By dying as a sinless substitute, He paid the penalty for our rebellion, and rescued us from Satan’s clutches. God reinstated Him as the lawful King over all creation.

So now the issue is: Whom will you worship? On the day of Pentecost, preaching to Jews and proselytes, Peter put it like this:

“Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36 NIV).

Through the resurrection of Jesus, God proved that Satan’s last weapon, death, could not hold Him. Jesus was the winner. Now He offers us, by believing in Him, a share in His Kingdom

He leaves the choice to us. God has put His rightful king back on the throne. We must choose who will reign over our lives. If we do nothing, we remain under the dominion of Satan and will take everything that’s coming to him as the one Jesus whipped. If we choose Jesus as King, the Holy Spirit, God’s representative on earth, makes us alive, and comes to live and rule over us as His temples. We enjoy all the benefits of sonship because we have been adopted into His family as His own children.

So why are you a Christian? Are you a Christian because you want a free ticket to heaven or are you a Christian because Jesus is the rightful ruler over your life? Your reason for believing in Him will make all the difference!

JESUS – THE SON OF GOD

Christian Life, ,

JESUS – THE SON OF GOD

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing, you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).

The Apostle John recorded Jesus’ miracles from a different perspective from the other three gospel writers. He presented Jesus to his readers as the Son of God.

John recorded only seven miracles in his gospel which he referred to as signs. Each miracle focused on a specific aspect of the nature of Jesus.Each of the seven miracles resulted in either an individual or a group putting their faith in Jesus or, at least, responding positively to Him.

  1. Water to wine (John 2: 11)

The disciples put their faith in Him.

  • Healing the official’s son (John 4: 53)

The official and his household believed in Him.

  • The paralysed man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5: 15)

The paralysed man who was healed broadcast everywhere what Jesus had done for him.

  • The feeding of the five thousand (John 6: 68-69)

Peter confirmed the disciples’ faith in Him.

  • Jesus walks on the water (John 6: 19-21)

No record of anyone coming to faith.

  •  The man born blind (John 9: 38)

The blind man who was healed believed in Jesus.

  • Lazarus raised from the dead (John 11: 45)

Martha, Mary, and many of the Jews believed in Him.

John’s declared purpose for relating only these seven miracles out of a choice of many others was to bring His readers to faith in Jesus so that they would have eternal life.

John’s choice of signs focuses on one thing – that Jesus’s disciples would see the glory of God in Him and that they would believe.

Not only did He work miracles to relieve people’s suffering and even to call them back from premature death, but Jesus also showed His power over the natural world. He calmed a violent storm on the lake, walked on water and multiplied bread and fish to feed a hungry multitude. Was He merely showing off or doing magic, or was He revealing His control over the natural world? Why would He do that?

His disciples were stunned at His power over a stormy lake. He simply spoke and the wind and waves obeyed Him – from violent wind and turbulent water to instant calm. They were awestruck and afraid.

They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey Him?’ (Mark 4: 41)

After He had fed five thousand people with only five small barley loaves and two fish, He sent His disciples back across the lake while He went into the hills to pray. A storm came up on the lake during the night while the disciples were on their way home. Jesus set off after them, walking on the water. When they saw Him, they were terrified, thinking He was a ghost.

Jesus called out to identify Himself and the ever-impetuous Peter, wanting to do what his rabbi did, asked permission to walk on the water as well. To his great surprise, he managed to take a few steps before fear got the better of him. Jesus grabbed him and they both made it to the boat in safety. The minute they climbed into the boat the wind ceased and the lake calmed down. How did the disciples react?

Then those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’ (Matt. 14: 33)

After giving His disciples opportunity to gather evidence, He would ask them, on another occasion, the most important question they would ever have to answer. In a most unlikely environment, Caesarea Philippi, where idols were publicly worshipped by sexual orgies with goats, He asked them,

‘But what about you?  Who do you say that I am?’ (Matt. 16: 15)

Without hesitation Peter, as the spokesman for the group declared:

‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ (Matt. 16: 16)

How did Peter reach this conclusion? Evidence! The accumulative evidence of all that Jesus had said and done led to only one conclusion – Jesus was no ordinary man. He was a man and much more – He was the Son of the living God.

Every rabbi with authority selected disciples in whom he had confidence that they would do what he did and even more.  Jesus expressed His confidence in the men He had chosen:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. (John 14: 12)

Unlike all other rabbis who trusted their disciplesbut had no guarantee that they would fulfil their expectation, Jesus could say with confidence that His disciples would do even greater things than He did because He was returning to the Father and would send the Holy Spirit to be in them forever. The same Spirit who empowered Him would do His works through them if they believed.

The apostle Paul declared that we are God’s masterpieces, created in Christ to do the good works He prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2: 10). What are these good works which God has prepared for us to do? According to Jesus, the same works He did, showing mercy to all people!

His commission to His disciples before He left them was to go and make disciples of all nations. He conferred on them the authority He had received from the Father to do the same things He did. This means that the works we do will confirm the authenticity of Jesus as Messiah and the Son of God, with the right and power to forgive sin, testify to the nature of God and His kingdom, and proclaim that the kingdom of God is here, just as His works did.

In response to His commission, Jesus’s disciples went everywhere preaching His word as He had commanded them to do.

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and He sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mark 16: 19-20)

He did not send them out to hold healing and miracle campaigns. The emphasis was not on miracles; it was on the kingdom of God of which Jesus is king. As He was proclaimed, so He confirmed His Word with signs.

This was the testimony of Paul as well.

The things that mark an apostle – signs, wonders and miracles – were done among you with great perseverance. (2 Cor. 12: 12)

Therefore, I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done – by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So, from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. (Rom. 15: 18-19)

Did you get the order? First the proclamation of the gospel of Christ – then the signs and wonders which confirmed the Word of God.

Is it not possible that there is far too much focus today on the signs and wonders which people are seeking instead of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and His kingdom, towards which the miracles point? Miracles have become an end in themselves instead of a confirmation that the kingdom of God is here. Those who claim to live in the kingdom are to walk in the ways of the Lord. It is His role to work with us and to confirm His Word with signs.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.